Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[evanft]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Got a linky please?

Here's the site.

They have a lot of mods for different players. I think the UB820/UB9000 mod is a relatively recent addition, like sometime this year. Unfortunately there are very few places on the internet to discuss it so I didn't learn about it until I happened to be browsing the site. I know the AVS Forum bans discussion of region free hacks/mods all together.

It ships from somewhere in Europe so it'll take some time to get to me, unfortunately. Total cost was $55 shipped to the USA.

Originally Posted by RodChester

Looks interesting especially since it disables the auto shut off, but having to solder it in makes it a no go for me. I’d be all over something that is plug and play like the Oppo mods.

My guess is that Oppo intentionally made it possible to have a drop-in mod for their players that make them region free, and someone simply figured it out or Oppo leaked it. Similar to how many of GM's manual V8 cars have a skipshift functionality that can be disabled with a $10 plug and play part.

There's also a firmware-only option available from Region Freedom, but from all reports the person behind that site is a real dipshit so I didn't want to deal with him. I kinda wanted to get his firmware and see what I could do to try and decompile or otherwise analyze it, though. He asks for your player's MAC address, which tells me he's using it as some kind of security check that prevents the firmware from working on any other player. I'm betting someone who knows what they're doing could look into the firmware files, find that MAC address, and change it to whatever they wanted.

[Geoff D]

Thanks! Yes, the firmware will only work on your specific player. It's a pity no-one's cracked the cracked firmware yet, but because you need to keep going back to him if you want to update the firmware to a latest version (case in point being any potential fix for the Lionsgate discs that skip in Dolby Vision) I think no-one's dared to upset his applecart.

What I love about the OPPO mod is that the previous one works perfectly on the 203, as you say it's a funny thing that any 'loophole' there in the tech that enabled a plug and play mod was carried over from product generation to generation

[evanft]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yes, it will only work on your specific player. It's a pity no-one's cracked the cracked firmware yet, but because you need to keep going back to him if you want to update the firmware to a latest version (case in point being any potential fix for the Lionsgate discs that skip in Dolby Vision) I think no-one's dared to upset his applecart.

The firmware file just needs to get into the hands of a person who has the tools to take it apart. I doubt it's that complicated. I mean, you take it and distribute it, what's the worst case scenario? The dude behind the site can't really come after you since he's distributing hacked Panasonic IP. Panasonic could come after you, but I doubt they care enough, and as long as you did it anonymously it shouldn't be an issue at all. Once the FW and the instructions to take it apart are out there, it's over.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

What I love about the OPPO mod is that the previous one works perfectly on the 203, as you say it's a funny thing that any 'loophole' there in the tech that enabled a plug and play mod was carried over from model to model

100% intentional from Oppo's part. That kind of thing doesn't happen by accident.

[sapiendut]

IIRC OLED is 700. But I may be wrong too.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by evanft

The firmware file just needs to get into the hands of a person who has the tools to take it apart. I doubt it's that complicated. I mean, you take it and distribute it, what's the worst case scenario? The dude behind the site can't really come after you since he's distributing hacked Panasonic IP. Panasonic could come after you, but I doubt they care enough, and as long as you did it anonymously it shouldn't be an issue at all. Once the FW and the instructions to take it apart are out there, it's over.



100% intentional from Oppo's part. That kind of thing doesn't happen by accident.

I get that it'd be simplicity itself if someone savvy enough was to take a look (reminds me of changing the version number using a hexadecimal thingy on HD DVD firmware back in the day so I could roll back to an earlier one) so how come no-one's done it yet? This firmware has been out there for years without anyone cracking the cracker. Just thinking out loud is all.

As for OPPO, that's what the smiley was for. WINKY FACE

Originally Posted by sapiendut

IIRC OLED is 700. But I may be wrong too.

Try setting it to OLED, play a disc mastered to 1000 nit max and see what the Optimiser does.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by Waboman

I thought I read somewhere that oled is only 700. But I surely could be misremembering. It's been known to happen. From time to time.

OLED is 1,000. I know for a fact

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by evanft

Here's the site.

linky no worky, lazy ol' me ended up having to google it anyway. So....it needs a soldering job AND custom firmware anyway to make it work? Was hoping it'd be a one and done, not to have to keep returning to them for firmware updates just like with regionfreedom guy.

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BTW guys if you don't believe me about the OLED setting being 1000 nits then an Actual Professional has said the same thing:

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

The OLED curve is the same (1000 nits) but it has a different model for color saturation. Panasonic compensated for the saturation difference inherent with R,G,B,W panels.

[cappyj]

Originally Posted by gto35830

How does this work with the 820? I am looking at a remote for the 9000. but would be $60. and shipped from UK. It looks like this is for the 900, so would assume that ALL the original remotes would some what be the same. Thanks for the info.

Following up on this. I ended up ordering one off of ebay as well (specifically this one).

Arrived a few days ago. Couldn't be more happy, especially given the low price tag. Love that it's backlit, love that netflix button isn't right above the up arrow (or right below the stop button) as it is on the stock 820 remote (drove me nuts how often I hit it by accident and it would load, etc.). Love that there is a subtitle button so I can access more quickly.

Downside (which may be positives to some) - it's obviously bigger and is heavy (I actually thought it had batteries in it already, it did not).

Oh and as mentioned, even though the pictures have the Panasonic brand edited out, mine showed up with an easily removable sticker so everything looks stock.

[evanft]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

linky no worky, lazy ol' me ended up having to google it anyway. So....it needs a soldering job AND custom firmware anyway to make it work? Was hoping it'd be a one and done, not to have to keep returning to them for firmware updates just like with regionfreedom guy.

It looks like the FW can be updated normally, however, over the internet. I don't know if they're providing it somehow or what. Maybe it changes the IP address the player looks for and does it that way, or the custom part of the FW sits only on the board.

I'll shoot them an email.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Got a linky please?

It's a soldering iron job, mate. They do plug and play one, but don't have them for the UHD players as far as I know.

Hilariously it disables the power function as well!

Edit: I have one for my Sony which needs re-soldering, they've mentioned in the past that they sort something out if you wanted to swap players.

[GiuseppeM]

Yesterday I received my Italian Edition of Midway (steelbook, 4K). The Blu-ray sales began yesterday. I watched it on my Panny 9000 and it didn't freeze. Italian edition has some differences, including DTS-X instead of Dolby Atmos.

[riptor3076]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

@gnicks, my meeting was rescheduled for next week.

Robert, any update from Panasonic about the 1.64 firmware. Do you know if Panasonic is aware of the dolby vision issues on some Lionsgate titles?

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by RodChester

Looks interesting especially since it disables the auto shut off, but having to solder it in makes it a no go for me. I’d be all over something that is plug and play like the Oppo mods.

Disabling the auto shut off function might actually be worth it since Panasonic refuses to fix this issue.

[evanft]

I emailed Rattlebyte. Here's the response

My Email:

Hello,

Hate to be a bother but I just had a couple of questions about the firmware aspect of the mod for the UB820.

1. Does the custom firmware completely replace the firmware in the player, or does it sit on your board?

2. Are there any other tweaks to the firmware besides the region coding? I know some others will make it possible to use the skip button anywhere or add features from the UB9000 player to the UB820.

3. When updating the firmware over the internet, is it downloading the official Panasonic firmware or is it downloading new modified firmware from you?

Thanks,
Evan

Response:

Hi Evan,

No problem, these are perfectly legitimate questions. I saw the thread
on the BluRay forum as well

1 - the custom firmware is needed to work with the hardware chip. It
fully replaces the stock Panasonic firmware.

2 - The player firmware has been modified only to allow switching of the
region, to allow US television sets to play back PAL and BD50i content,
to remove the 20 minute auto power off, and to download the custom
version of the firmware once a firmware update has been released. These
modifications (except for the auto power-off) are standard across all
players that we modify. The firmware is identical to the official
firmware in all other respects. There are currently no tweaks to disable
the UOP or other "enhanced firmware" features like the other fellow does.

3 - The Internet update has been changed to download modified firmware,
so updating the player this way is safe to keep the region switching
working. The player can also be updated over USB. This way, both
modified firmware and official firmware can be installed. Installing
official firmware will disable the region switching and the other
tweaks. You will need to reinstall the custom firmware to get them back.

The custom firmware can be downloaded by yourself at any time, there is
no begging involved You just have to log into your account at
rattlebyte.com and open the download page of the model you have. It will
automatically provide the USB install files for the latest custom
firmware version that is available. Once Panasonic release an update
firmware it usually takes us a few days to modify, test and publish the
customized version of it.

Feel free to share this information if you think it can help people!

[Geoff D]

Thanks evan, and to mr rattlebyte. It's not for me but godspeed, gentlemen.

[Fred Bang]

So I've got my garbled sounds issue rear it's ugly head again: After a couple of hours, some crackling sound suddenly can be heard and it eventually becomes a garbled mess. Unplugging the player for a few seconds seems resolves the issue.

This occured on Blade Runner, Mad Max and Star Wars a New Hope so far, although I doubt it's related to a particular disk/scene. Might be atmos related though.

Anyone can help?

My setup is the following:

UB820-->x950G (3rd HDMI input. It's the ARC one, but I'm NOT using ARC).
x950G-->Harman Kardon Receiver (via optical out)

THe Harman Kardon is a pretty old machine that has no Atmos support (just 5.1)

The UB820 is set as bitstream. I'm on the last firmware update. I tried disabling that 7.1 Conversion setting thing.

I never had any problems with the exact same setup on my sony x800.

Next time it occurs I will use the TV Speaker to see if the issue is from the player or the receiver.

Any ideas?

[Geoff D]

You don't connect the player directly to the AVR?

Try turning off Secondary Audio in the player.

[Fred Bang]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

You don't connect the player directly to the AVR?

Try turning off Secondary Audio in the player.

I don't because the great thing about passing through the TV is that I can use all the HDMI inputs (player, PS4, apple TV) and output through a single digital output.

That being said, I may try to plug the digital directly, just to see if it solves the issue.

As for the secondary Audio, it IS turned off.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by Fred Bang

I don't because the great thing about passing through the TV is that I can use all the HDMI inputs (player, PS4, apple TV) and output through a single digital output.

That being said, I may try to plug the digital directly, just to see if it solves the issue.

As for the secondary Audio, it IS turned off.

Yes, it would be a good idea for troubleshooting purposes to try connecting the audio out straight to the receiver.

Also, just to be sure...once the top menu loads up for each of those movies; what happens if you manually select Dolby Digitial 5.1 instead of relying on some kind of auto setup? SOme movies you have to start it before switching it.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Thanks evan, and to mr rattlebyte. It's not for me but godspeed, gentlemen.

Looking at the boards of the 420, 820 and 9000 the solder points look quite meaty, they're literally pinpricks in my SONY. I'd be tempted if Currys still had the 420, but I'm not going to crack open my only 4K player.

__________________________________________________ _____________

I've asked this in the past ... when you're watching an Atmos movie, when you press PLAYBACK INFO. on the remote is there anything to indicate Atmos is playing? I've tried everything, with my Denon if I cycle through the audio options Atmos does come up (I don't think the Denon's switch automatically?). Does that mean everything is okay (I think one of the pseudo modes comes up with an Atmos source).